Faith Revisited (18 page)

It confirmed in her mind that Bale's blood did something to her. Something that, while it had saved her this time, could add insurmountable complications to her life. And then the implications of the attack dawned on her. How much of a coincidence could the Lilu demon's warning outside her club and then the attack outside her condo be?

Until she knew what was going on, she had to convince Hope to return to their father's nest. She'd apparently pissed someone off, and she wasn't about to let her twin get caught in the cross fire. Not if she could help it.

* * * *

76

Madelyn Ford

Getting Hope to leave was easier than Faith had expected. In fact, she didn't even have to bring up the topic. The next morning Hope emerged from her room with an excited burst of energy. She'd met the man of her dreams and was going to spend the weekend with him skiing in Vancouver.

Faith did her best not to roll her eyes at her twin's exuberance. Hope had a tendency to fall in and out of love twice a month, so she wasn't expecting anything more to come of this relationship than she had the previous ones. But it served her purposes, so she smiled and nodded and wished her twin a wonderful weekend. Then, with the Hope situation resolved, she finally crawled into bed, high-fiving herself for managing to hide her distress from her nosy, know-it-all sister.

The Watchers: Faith Revisited

77

Chapter Nine

Bale was absent from Club Dominus Friday night, and while Faith expected it, she was still disappointed. Her mood dipped even further when Saturday also passed without his presence. Sunday night she spent trying to find that damn Lilu demon, but with no success. At least she could be thankful there were no more demon attacks outside her condo, because Hope returned Monday morning while Faith was still sleeping.

Faith managed to avoid her twin, slipping off to the club before she returned home from a meeting. She hadn't fed since that night with Bale, and the lack of blood was beginning to wear her down. She knew her pheromones were seriously out of whack but ignored the raised brow Prue sent her when she arrived at work.

In her defense, Faith did try to feed that night. She stepped out of her office and was accosted in no time by an incredibly hot man in leather pants and one of those frilly white linen shirts that vampire wannabes loved to wear. But it ended the same way it had with Blondie—

with her head hanging over the toilet. At least this time she'd had the presence of mind to close the wound. She couldn't risk Prue knowing what had occurred. And the small amount of blood she'd managed to ingest seemed to trick her pheromones into thinking she had fed, because they subsided. But the hunger pangs did not, and neither did the lethargy.

Ignoring how far her health was sinking, she continued to spend several hours hunting each night. And around every corner she expected to run into Bale, which was really quite silly considering she'd been doing this for several years without ever encountering one of the Grigori.

It was Wednesday evening when Hope finally managed to corner her in her office. Faith knew Prue was to blame for the intrusion, but she didn't have the energy to get angry. A week of not feeding had left her so weak and disoriented, she'd been forced to call in another employee to help Prue. She knew Prue had grown increasingly worried as the week had progressed, and while she'd tried to convince her friend everything was okay, she'd obviously not done a very good job.

Hope only stared at her, her jaw dropping open for several seconds. Faith knew she looked bad. She couldn't cover up the dark circles under her eyes with makeup or hide the tremors that racked her frame every couple of minutes. But she grew immediately defensive anyway.

“What?”

Hope's jaw snapped shut. “You look like shit.”

“Well, thanks a lot,” Faith replied drily. She turned her gaze from Hope, pointedly ignoring her presence.

“It's not going to work, Faith. I'm not leaving. And if you don't tell me what the hell is going on right now, I'll be the least of your problems. I'll have Dad on your ass so fast, you'll think hell has frozen over.”

78

Madelyn Ford

Faith sighed, her forehead falling to the desktop. “I wish to hell I knew, Hope. If I did, maybe I could fix this.”

“Fix what?” Hope asked quietly as she knelt beside Faith's chair and stroked her hair gently.

Faith raised her head and met her sister's gaze. “I can't feed. Every time I try, I get sick.”

“Every time?”

She tried to swallow the lump that formed in her throat. “No. Not with Bale.”

Hope grew thoughtful for a moment. “Have you ever heard of a vampire and a shifter mating? Maybe it has something to do with that.”

Faith grew confused. “Shifters? What do shifters have to do with this?”

Now Hope's forehead knotted in bewilderment. “Bale—all those males—they're feline shifters, right? Arak didn't deny it when he told me you were Bale's mate.”

Faith shook her head. “They're not shifters, Hope. And I'm not Bale's mate.”

Hope stilled as her eyes narrowed at Faith. “What are they?” she asked slowly.

Faith could sense her sister's slowly rising anger and knew what she was about to reveal would probably freak Hope out. It certainly had her. “They are called the Grigori. Fallen angels, Hope. Bale was an angel.”

Hope released a gasp. “They are demons?”

Faith shook her head. “No. I think they were angels punished for taking humans as spouses.”

Hope sat back on her heels, thoughtful. “We know some angels do have soul mates, Faith.

We spent years watching Muriel and Ezra,” she said, referring to the vampire Principal, the angel in charge of keeping the vampires in line, and her husband, dominus of the vampires. “So why should Bale be any different? And wouldn't Arak know if it weren't possible?”

“He doesn't want me, Hope,” she whispered as a tear streaked down her cheek.

Hope shook her head adamantly. “He's your mate. He doesn't have a choice.” She spoke so decisively, like that was the end of the subject, and Faith released a bitter laugh.

“He doesn't want a mate,” she said as she stood, forcing Hope to stand and move back from her.

Hope folded her arms across her chest. “Too bad. He'll have to adjust.”

Faith grunted and walked unsteadily toward the small refrigerator near the bathroom.

When she stumbled, Hope grabbed her arm and helped stabilize her. Her twin walked beside her as she retrieved a bottle of water and then ambled back to her chair, then hovered next to Faith's elbow as if to catch her should she fall.

“What if
I
don't want
him
? What if I do not want to have to depend on him to survive?

Huh?”

Hope met her indignant gaze and asked, “Do you have any choice? Or are you going to starve to death? And before you open your mouth and say something really stupid like yes, answer me this: when you did try to feed from someone other than Bale, did you enjoy it?”

“Oh yeah. I just love hitting the porcelain goddess,” Faith said drolly as she rolled her eyes.

The Watchers: Faith Revisited

79

“The prospect of it, baby sister. The thought of getting that close to a male. Breathing in his scent. Licking his skin. Consuming his blood.” Hope gradually moved closer to Faith as she spoke, until she whispered the last in her ear.

Faith pushed her twin away, diverting her eyes as she pressed her lips tightly together.

Hope snorted in amusement as she landed on her ass from Faith's shove. “He's your mate, all right.”

“Glad one of us is enjoying this,” Faith murmured drily.

“Oh, don't get your panties in a wad. I'll take care of it.”

“What!” Faith exclaimed, her spine straightening dramatically. “Hope, don't you dare…”

But Hope only waved over her shoulder and strode from Faith's office. With a heavy sigh, Faith leaned her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. She didn't need this shit now, and if she'd had the energy, she would have chased after her sister. As it was, she didn't even have it in her to bitch at Prue for opening her big mouth. She was just so tired that the only thing that didn't sound painful was a nap.

* * * *

The buzzer sounded, and Zeke swiveled in his chair to glance at the television screen behind him. Before the fifteen-foot wrought-iron gate stood a female. He couldn't make out much about her in the dark, so he flipped on a light to get a better view. She blinked and raised a hand to shield her eyes, but not before he glimpsed the pale blue-eyed vision. She was beautiful, and he figured another one of Arak's conquests had followed him back to the fortress. It seemed to happen every couple of months.

“Yes?” His tone was not welcoming, and he was ready to send this one packing like he had all the rest.

“I need to speak to Bale.”

Zeke did not let his surprise alter his tone. “About?”

“None of your damn business. Where is Bale?”

Zeke snorted. Like
that
was going to get him to open the gates. “Bale is not available.”

Thinking that was the end of it, Zeke turned from the camera. The buzzer sounded again, and he turned back to the screen, surprised. She was persistent, he'd give her that.

“I thought I told you to go away.”

Zeke watched in fascination as her face turned red and she widened her stance, hands bracketing her hips.

“If one of you oversize assholes doesn't open this fucking gate and take me to Bale, I will be the least of your problems, buddy. If my sister dies because of him, my father and every vampire in this territory will be all over you bastards. And he's not going to give a shit who you all once were. Fucking no-good, uppity angels.”

Zeke continued to watch her for a moment longer, stunned by her sheer audacity. She needed someone to spank her ass and wash her mouth out. Then her words hit him, and he rose from his chair. He jogged down the stairs and was on the other side of the gate in less than a minute. Crossing his arms over his chest, an intense and imposing stance, he stared at her.

She snorted and said, “Where the hell is Bale?”

“I told you he was unavailable. Now leave, or I'll escort you off the property.”

80

Madelyn Ford

Zeke was certain that would be all it would take. He found out how wrong he was when she stepped closer to the gate.

“I need to talk to the son of a bitch. Where is Remy? Or Arak? Shit, I'll even take Kash right now.” She paused, and then her eyes narrowed. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”

Zeke arched a brow at her tone but decided to humor her. He took two steps closer to the gate, letting the light hit his face. The female gasped and took a step back.

“It's you. From the tapestry over the stairs,” she whispered.

Zeke was not only stunned that this female knew of the tapestry, but that she recognized him from it. He hardly looked like that angel any longer.

“Who the hell are
you
?” he finally asked.

“Hope. Faith is my sister.”

Zeke's gaze hardened, and he was about to tell the female where she and her viperous sister could go when Remy interrupted them.

“Hope, what are you doing here?” he asked as he stepped up to the gate and opened it.

The female rushed forward, but Zeke moved to block her. She ignored him, her gaze fixed only on Remy.

“I need to see Bale, but this dumb oaf won't let me in.”

Remy shook his head to deny her request when her eyes filled with tears.

“No. I have to see him. Faith is sick. Really sick. She needs Bale, or she will die.”

Zeke studied her as she spoke, watching the colors of her aura. It had remained the same vibrant shades of pink from the moment she'd engaged him in conversation. She at least
believed
what she was saying. He glanced at Remy and nodded. Then he decided to take things one step further.

“Bale was attacked last night while visiting your sister. Someone stabbed him and left him for dead. Luckily he was able to teleport back here with your sister's knife protruding from his gut. Why should we give a shit if she dies?”

Hope looked confused for a moment; then her face twisted in anger, and she launched herself at Zeke. Remy grabbed her around the waist, trying to keep a hold on the twisting spitfire.

“You son of a bitch. Faith didn't see your precious Bale last night. If she had, she wouldn't be such a mess. Thanks to your buddy, she can't feed from anyone but him.” Hope finally managed to break free and turned to Remy, her eyes pleading. “Have Arak go see Faith. He'll tell you. There is no way Faith can hold a knife steady, much less have the strength to stab it through someone's flesh. Please, Remy. She's going to die without Bale.”

Once again Remy looked to Zeke for confirmation, and Zeke had to nod. She was pleading for her sister's life. He watched as a look of horror suddenly crept across her face.

“Oh God, is Bale okay? Please tell me he is going to be okay.”

“Worried about our precious Bale now?” Zeke asked with a large dose of sarcasm.

“Only because my sister's life is tied to his. If she is going to live, so must her mate.”

Remy held his arm out to Hope while sending Zeke a look of disappointment. “Come on, Hope. We'll find Arak and have him wake Bale. I think it's time we received some answers.”

Hope nodded, glancing over at Zeke with a smirk before moving to Remy's side. “Why would you possibly think Faith would hurt Bale?”

The Watchers: Faith Revisited

81

“Another of us has the ability to see things from objects. He saw a red-haired female stab Bale,” Remy replied quietly, studying Hope for a reaction.

“And because she had red hair you assumed it was Faith?” Her tone was indignant, and Zeke couldn't prevent the smile from taking over his face. He found her spunk amusing.